Drugs tarnish Olympic Games

August 15, 2004

Only for the naive is an Olympic gold medal simply a trophy. It has long since become, at least potentially, a ticket to fame and riches. That being the case, it is inevitable that for a few athletes the increasing risks involved in using performance-enhancing drugs have become acceptable. Illegal drugs - like terrorism - are an unwelcome intruder at the Olympic Games in Athens.

Journal Sentinel reporter Don Walker recently noted that the specter of athletes and drugs at the Olympics has become most controversial in track and field events, in which a half-dozen athletes have either been charged with using drugs or are suspected of having done so.

Modern advances in drug testing have made it harder to get away with doping. Dick Pound, the head of the World Anti-Doping Agency, argues that "those who cheat have fewer places to hide and more likelihood of exposure than ever before."

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Still, a few are willing to take the risk. U.S. sprinter Terri Edwards tested positive for a banned stimulant at a track meet in Martinique in April and has been banned from competition for two years.

At the Olympics, young men and women from around the world will gather to compete against each other and on behalf of their respective homelands. As many as 5.3 million people will see the games in Athens, and NBC is planning 1,210 hours of television coverage.

If there is such a thing as the Olympic spirit in Athens, it is closely connected to notions of fair play and playing by the rules. When people see these Games in person or watch them on television, they have a reasonable right to expect an athletic contest that is clean, not one whose outcome is fixed by chemicals.

The Olympic Games began in Athens in 776 B.C. The first modern Olympics were held there in 1896. A lot of medals have been handed out since; a lot of triumphs and defeats have been recorded. But the biggest victory in the long history of the Olympics - if it can be reached - would be a triumph over this form of chemical pollution. It can't happen too soon.